Tarun Nagar 
Want to develop an app like WeChat, your all-in-one app? You have reached the right place. Just imagine a future in which your phone serves as both a tool and a doorway to a vibrant digital environment.
Within the same app, you can call a cab, order food, pay your bills, and even play games. Thanks to WeChat, this is not science fiction; it’s real life for millions of people in China.
“WeChat: The all-in-one app that bridges communication, payments, and daily life.”
It is more than merely a messaging app; it has gone beyond. Among all social media platforms, WeChat has the sixth-highest daily active user count. Are you interested in taking over the world?
Want to develop an app like WeChat but you are not sure how….That’s okay. But how do you even start? Relax, everyone! This blog will serve as your manual as it puts you in the fascinating world of developing super-apps.
So, let’s begin!
Table of Contents
What Is A WeChat App?
Created by Tencent, WeChat serves as a multi-purpose tool for texting, social media, and mobile payments. Since it started in 2011, it’s become very famous, especially in China and other parts of Asia. Over 1 billion users use it every month.
However, it is a great app that merges the features of several apps into a single, easy-to-use platform. Mini Programs are small apps that are built into WeChat and offer a wide range of services.
This messaging app development solution covers things like shopping online, getting food delivered, booking rides, using government services, and a lot more. You don’t have to download multiple apps because WeChat does everything. This makes things easier and saves space on your phone.
WeChat Messaging App – Why Is It So Popular?
For many Chinese mobile users, Tencent’s most-used app is more than just a social network. It’s where you can swap money, shop, call a ride, order food, date, and do a lot more. WeChat’s wide range of features helped it get a huge 88 percent daily usage rate in 2020 and an 89 percent entry rate in its mini-programs in 2022.
- It’s not a surprise that WeChat is among the best messaging apps and an important marketing tool for brands, given how many people use it.
- As of the end of December 2023, more than 1.3 billion people were using the Chinese social media site every month.
- A poll found that 25% of WeChat users in China spent more than four hours a day on the app.
- It was predicted that the total number of WeChat users around the world would drop by 26.4 million between 2024 and 2028.
- WeChat’s mini-programs had about 945 million monthly active users in China as of March 2024. That’s more than 90% of all WeChat users who were using the services.
- The United States, Hong Kong, and Taiwan were also big areas for WeChat in 2023, bringing in a total of $4.8 million from in-app purchases.
- WeChat is the sixth most used social networking site in the world.
What Is WeChat Mini Program?
Basically, WeChat Mini Programs are small apps that you can access right from the WeChat app. You download and install regular apps on your phone, but Mini Programs don’t take up any room and can be used right away.
With these little super app development programs, you don’t have to download and install individual apps. This saves room on your phone and makes using it easier. Now let’s look at what makes the messaging mobile app like WeChat unique:
1. Ecommerce
WeChat Mini Programs are what a lot of companies and brands use as their online stores. Users can look at goods, buy them, and enjoy seamless integration with WeChat Pay, the digital wallet feature that comes with the app.
2. Food Delivery
Food delivery giants like Meituan and Ele.me use on demand app development mini programs to make it easy for users to buy food from many restaurants, keep track of deliveries, and pay.
3. Transportation
Didi Chuxing and CaoCao Chuxing are two popular ride-hailing services. They both have Mini Programs that let users book cabs, keep track of their rides, and pay for them all right from WeChat. Through unique Wechat mini program development, users can also book tickets for trains, buses, and even planes.
4. Entertainment
Mini Programs give you access to many fun things to do, like playing games online, listening to music, and buying movie tickets. With social media app development, you can also become the next industry leader to develop an app like WeChat.
5. Travel and Booking
WeChat Mini Programs help users buy food from many places, keep track of deliveries, and pay. Big food delivery services like Meituan and Ele.me use them.
6. Government Services
Some Chinese government offices have also started “Mini Programs” to make it easier for people to get different kinds of government services. For example, renewing passports or applying for social security benefits.
7. Social Features
Many Wechat mini program development solutions have social features that let users share their WeChat experiences, suggestions, and purchases with their friends and family.
WeChat aims to be a one-stop site for Chinese users, and the many Mini Program services it offers show this. It affects almost every part of their lives.
“We partnered with Dev Technosys to develop our new messaging app. Their team was nothing short of exceptional. Their expertise in mobile app development and user experience design resulted in a sleek, intuitive app that’s exceeded our expectations. Our app’s user engagement has skyrocketed, and our app is quickly becoming the go-to platform for our community. We can’t recommend Dev Technosys highly enough.”— Christopher (United States)
Steps To Develop An App Like Wechat
So, you have reached here. What’s now! Well, creating a messaging app like WeChat is a bit complex task as it requires a thorough expertise. But fret not! With the help of a messaging app development services provider, we have created the messaging app development process that will help you to develop an app like WeChat iOS or Android.
1. Validate Your WeChat-like App Idea
To develop an app like WeChat, the first thing you need to do is figure out why people need a chat app and what features you want to add. Validate it with an entertainment app development company to find out who your target audience is and what they want by doing market study.
What features do rivals’ apps have that yours don’t? After that, you can consider all the features you desire for your app and pick the most significant ones. If you want to know how people use your app, make some user stories to create a chat app like WeChat.
2. Technical Specification
The next step is to make a technical specification that describes the app’s design, user interface, and functions after the features have been finalized. There should be a full explanation of each feature, its technical needs.
Working with a messaging app development company, make a plan for the app’s design, which includes the interaction protocols and the server-side and client-side parts.
3. Create A UI/UX Design
Making a stunning, easy-to-navigate UI is essential to develop an app like WeChat. Your app has to have two versions, one for iOS and one for Android. You must ensure that the layout and features of both are the same.
As part of the frontend development, the app should also be tested on a number of different platforms to make sure it works well on all of them.
4. Start the WeChat Clone App Development
An application like WeChat needs strong backend development to handle all the messaging and user info. The messaging structure that WeChat uses is called XMPP. It is free and open source, and it lets users talk to each other in real time.
The iOS app development company needs to make a server that can handle millions of users at the same time. It sets up a database to store all the user info and messages, and it uses a messaging protocol like XMPP.
5. Test Your Mobile App
During the testing stage, the app is checked for its security, usefulness, and ease of use. Before release, the app must be fully tested to find and fix any bugs or other problems.
To verify the app is up to snuff and ready to go live, it must undergo a battery of tests, including unit, integration, and user acceptability.
6. Launch And Maintain Your App
You can release the app to the app stores once it has passed all of its tests. In order to launch an app, you need to make a developer account, upload it to the app stores, and follow the app stores’ rules.
Once the app is out there, it will need regular care to keep it safe and running well. You should also make sure that it has the most recent security fixes and changes to the operating system.
Essential Features To develop an app like WeChat
Which thing will assist you develop an app like WeChat? Only the features would need to be set up correctly for the fall. If you have an easy-to-find, strong-feature game, the market is already yours. To help you create a social media app like WeChat, we’ve put together a list of features you should include.
| Feature | Description |
| Messaging | Communicate with people or groups through text, voice, and video messages. |
| Calling | With WeChat platform development, users may create voice and video calls to individuals or groups. |
| WeChat Moments | When you develop an app like WeChat, users can share photos, videos, and text updates with friends in a social media feed. |
| WeChat Pay | A mobile payment gateway integration system that enables users to make online and offline payments and transfer money to friends. |
| Mini Programs | Mini apps within the WeChat platform that allow users to access a wide range of services without downloading separate apps. |
| Official Accounts | Accounts created by businesses, organizations, and media outlets that allow them to: * Share news and updates * Offer promotions * Provide customer service |
| File Sharing | Pics, videos, documents, and other things can be shared with coworkers and friends. |
| Moments Search | When you develop an app like WeChat Android, users can search for specific content within your friends’ Moments feeds. |
| Group Chat | If you create a mobile app like WeChat, users can create groups for chatting with multiple people at once. |
| Stickers and Emojis | It enhances communication with a large number of fun and expressive stickers and emojis. |
| WeChat Pay Wallet | Store digital versions of loyalty cards, coupons, and boarding passes. |
| Translation Services | Translate messages and content between different languages. |
Best WeChat Alternatives In 2024
If you are looking to develop an app like WeChat, then you need to know the competitors and their USP. It will help you stand out from others. So, let’s have a look at the best WeChat alternatives.
| Top WeChat Apps | Available Platform | Download | Ratings |
| Android | iOS | 5B+ | 4.1 | |
| KakaoTalk | Android | iOS | 100M+ | 3.2 |
| Slack | Android | iOS | 10M+ | 3.9 |
| Telegram | Android | iOS | 1B+ | 4.2 |
| Botim | Android | iOS | 100M+ | 4.2 |
| Viber | Android | iOS | 1B+ | 4.0 |
1. WhatsApp
This messaging app like WhatsApp is very famous, and people use their phone number as their ID. Users can send pictures, videos, and voice messages, as well as chat with other people or groups. A lot of people know it for its end-to-end security.
2. KakaoTalk
Like WeChat, KakaoTalk lets you talk to people one-on-one or in groups, send media, and make sound calls. Although, it’s very famous in South Korea, and it has extra features like mobile payments and games inside the app.
3. Slack
For use in the office, apps like Slack are perfect. Teams can share files, make video calls, and set up channels for different projects or themes. It works with many efficiency tools, so it’s a great place to talk about work.
4. Telegram
Another chat app that puts security first. It has tools like private chats that end after a certain amount of time. A lot of people use an app like Telegram for big group chats and channels where they can send notes to a lot of people at once.
5. Botim
Globally, this app isn’t very popular; most people in the United Arab Emirates use it. It’s a lot like WeChat in that it focuses on secure texting with encryption. So, if you are planning to develop an app like Botim on a limited budget, now is the correct time to invest.
6. Viber
Viber lets you send encrypted messages, make talk calls, and video calls, just like WeChat and Telegram. It has some unique features, like group polls and secret chats.
How Does Apps Like WeChat Make Money?
We have previously covered the features of these apps and how they ensure their market survival. Although you won’t be charging people to use the app, it’s necessary to find other ways to make money from users. That way, you can make money by giving away a free version or a paid app. But let’s look at some methods WeChat app uses:
1. Create a Mini-program
Users who have the app can sell their goods online on sites like the WeChat small program after downloading it. With this idea, other mobile chat apps can do the same thing. The app takes a small fee for each exchange, which adds up to their income. You can also create mini program apps and add AI chatbot in it by hiring an AI app development company.
2. Advertisements
Just like most other apps, these ones sell room on their screens to brands and businesses that want to put ads on them. WeChat keeps track of more than 1 million devices that have their app installed, and businesses pay them to show their ads on those devices.
3. Subscription Model
After registering as a seller on the app, users are paid a nice amount based on how many items they sell. This means that the app can make twice as much money. So, if you are looking to develop an app like Telegram or WeChat, you can use the subscription model for monetization.
4. Outsourcing Games
WeChat has a lot of games built into the app, but they also hire outside writers to make games for them in exchange for money.
Benefits Of WeChat Clone App Development
WeChat is a great example of how powerful it can be to have a platform that combines social networking, messaging, and mobile banking. Making a Dupe of WeChat can be good for your business in the same ways, and it can help you make a one-stop shop for your customers. Here are five reasons why you should spend money on WeChat clone app development:
1. Access a Massive User Base
WeChat has a huge user base—more than 1.3 billion daily users, most of whom are in China. With a social network app development, you can reach this huge group of possible customers and make the Chinese market much more aware of your brand.
2. Cost-effective and Time-saving
Comparing the two, if you develop a WeChat Mini app, it takes less time and costs less than making a separate mobile app. WeChat has a strong development system with many tools and themes that can make the process of development go more quickly. This helps small and medium-sized businesses that don’t have a lot of money or staff.
3. Versatile Functionality
WeChat Mini Programs are very flexible and can be used for a wide range of business purposes. There are so many things that could be done, from online shops and delivery services to making appointments and reward programs. This means that social media app development services providers can make their Mini Program fit their industry and customers.
4. Enhanced Customer Engagement
An app similar to WeChat gives you a unique chance to get to know your customers better. Businesses can use robots and tailored messages to help customers right away, answer their questions, and let them know about deals.
How Much Will It Cost To Create An App Like WeChat?
The topic that brought us all here today is the cost to develop an app like WeChat, so let’s get to that. The messaging app development cost between $10,000 – $15,000 to make a chat app for a single platform.
On the other hand, the cost may go up to $30,000 depending on how complex the application is. The table below shows the work that needs to be done and how much it is expected to cost.
| App Complexity | Cost Estimation |
| Simple WeChat App Development | $10,000-$15,000 |
| Medium WeChat App Development | $15,000-$22,000 |
| Complex WeChat App Development | $30,000+ |
Where you outsource, how many platforms you want to target, the design and how complicated it is, the number and complexity of features, and even your timeline will affect the WeChat app development cost. So, it’s best to get in touch with a mobile application development company. They will give you a full estimate of the cost to develop a multi-purpose messaging app like WeChat.
Let’s Develop An App Like WeChat!!
Message apps are always getting better and more popular, and you can still make an app like WeChat that gets a big share of the market.
The next big thing in communication will be messaging applications. We already talked about how hard it is to develop an app like WeChat, and our team at Dev Technosys, custom messaging app development services provider, can help you every step of the way.
Getting in contact with us is the first move in exploring interest and gathering details on the WeChat platform for app development. Our group of experts and specialists works hard to meet your needs. So, if you want to develop an app like WeChat for Android or iOS, we are the one-stop destination!
FAQs!!
Q1. How Long Will It Take To Develop An App Like WeChat?
The WeChat mobile app development time can be affected by many variables. For a simple messaging app like WeChat, you can expect 2-4 months. However, a complex app similar to WeChat can increase the time up to 8 months or more. The mobile app development company will provide you the exact time to develop an app like WeChat.
Q2. How Much Does It Cost To Build An App Like WeChat?
The cost to create an app like WeChat can be between $10,000-$25,000. But it can get influenced by factors like app complexity, features, tech stack etc. So, it is vital to contact the WeChat app development company about the actual cost.
Q3. What Are the Benefits Of WeChat App Development?
When you build a social media platform like WeChat, you will get many benefits from it:
- Huge user base
- Cost effectiveness
- Versatile functionality
- Boost user engagement
Q4. How To Make Money From Apps Like WeChat?
To monetize a messaging app like WeChat, you should follow the below monetization strategies:
- In App Payments
- Advertisement
- Renewal Charges
- Cost Per Download
- Official or Verified Accounts
Q5. Why Choose Us For WeChat App Development?
Being one of the top Android app development services providers, Dev Technosys has expertise in building A-rated mobile applications. Till now, we have developed over 1000+ applications for clients all over the world. We have a proven track record in developing messaging apps with cutting-edge technologies. If you are still not convinced, below are the parameters:
- 24/7 customer support
- 100% client satisfaction
- Robust app development solution
- Cost-effectiveness
